The World Above
Chapter I
Prince Eric made his way through the castle halls in search of his fiancee. So far she had searched all her usual haunts from her bedroom to the library and even Carlotta's chambers with no luck so far. He was just passing the conference room when he heard Ariel's voice, "You're welcome, Captain Monroe. If you ever need any assistance again, please don't hesitate to ask."
"I most certainly will, your highness." Captain Monroe responded. The prince peered into the room just as Syrus Monroe, the captain of his trade fleet's flagship, exited and subsequently bumped into him, "Oh, Prince Eric... I was looking for you earlier."
"Oh, I apologize I was in a meeting with the court. What is it I can help you with, Captain?"
The Captain grinned, "Not a problem, your beautiful fiancee was kind enough to lend her assistance. I was merely trying to plot a faster and safer shipping route to Glauerhaven, it wouldn't have been worth disrupting your schedule and Princess Ariel was most helpful. I never would have considered the route she mapped but she assures me that the currents will allow our ships to make excellent time and that the deeper waters will reduce the risk of running aground during hurricanes."
"Her intelligence is one of the many reasons I'm marrying her." Eric responded with a grin.
"You both give me too much credit. You forget, I have inside knowledge of those waters my insight isn't so miraculous." Ariel stated simply as she approached them, "Speaking of the waters though Eric, I have a new suggestion regarding the kingdom's revenue I'd like to run by you."
"Well, I'll leave the two of you to your discussion. Thank you again, your highness." With that the captain bowed to the two royals and made his way down the hall.
"So, what's your suggestion?" Eric asked, as he wound Ariel's arm through his own and led her down the hallway towards the dining hall.
"Well, when I lived in Atlantica, I spent most of my time exploring sunken ships and collecting various human items. Naturally there's no real value to such items in Atlantica, we have our own currency and humans and their lost possessions are not in high demand there either. I was thinking though, father is always complaining about the ships, they take up immense amounts of space and he's not particularly fond of them so why not have your kingdom as well as my kingdom do a joint salvage effort."
"Go on." Eric urged.
"Father can arrange for my people to help raise the treasure and lost ships, even the skeletal remains to the surface where your ships can take them on board. The families of your sailors would have closure, you can generate revenue by selling the treasures, and father will be getting rid of the 'human trash' littering his kingdom. What do you think?"
"I think it's an excellent idea. We've lost countless royal treasures due to the shipwrecks, it would be wonderful to recover them all and to give our sailors proper buriels."
Ariel smiled up at him happily, "I'm so glad you approve, I'll have Sebastian pitch the idea to father when he returns." Ariel hugged his arm and the couple walked in silence for several feet before she spoke again, "So, what brought you by the conference room this afternoon? Grim didn't mention you having any meetings scheduled in there today."
"Actually, I was looking for you. Things have been so hectic around here since the incident with Vanessa and everyone trying to fix the wedding ship and make arrangements for our wedding, the two of us haven't had much time to talk." Here Eric chuckled, "I loved you before you got your voice back, you know, but it's still wonderful to be able to have a two-way conversation with you."
Ariel smiled warmly, "Words can't even describe how happy I am to HAVE my voice back. There were so many things I wanted to say and no real way for me to say them."
"I have questions myself, the first of which being, why on earth did you give your voice to that evil woman to begin with?"
The princess blushed, "I fell in love with you when you risked your life to save Max. My father had raised us believing that humans were barbarians who killed creatures that were different from them, yet here was a human prince willing to risk his life to save an animal. I wanted to spend time with you, get to know you... but father hates humans, interaction between our worlds was forbidden, he even went so far as to destroy my collection of human items and the statue Grim had given you as a birthday present. I was upset and desperate... making a deal with Ursula seemed like my only hope."
"Why does your father have such a problem with humans? Surely there's a reason for this mistrust of us."
"Humans stole something very precious to my family and our people." Ariel replied sadly.
Eric stopped walking and kissed her softly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I would like to know what it was we did that could cause so much hatred between our people."
Ariel closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around Eric's waist, leaning her face against his chest, "When I was five, my parents, sisters, and I were having a family outing at a small lagoon that was popular with all the merpeople at the time. It was my parents' anniversary and my father had just given my mother a beautiful music box that played our lullaby.
"It was such a happy day, everyone was laughing and smiling. Then suddenly, a black ship appeared on the horizon heading straight for us. I was the first to see it, it frightened me. My father saw my terror and followed my gaze to the ship. He shouted the alarm and everyone swam off, except my mother. She had forgotten the music box and went back for it. The sailors on the ship saw her, she was trapped between the rocks and the oncoming ship, they saw her and didn't divert. She was crushed between them... none of us, especially my father, ever truly recovered from her loss."
Eric's arms tightened around her, "I'm so sorry Ariel."
She lifted her head and gave him a teary-eyed smile, "It was a long, long time ago and it wasn't your fault. It made my father think of humans as cold-hearted barbarians and even he my eldest sister, Atina, holds a negative opinion of them still... they think you and those in your kingdom are the only exceptions."
"Well, I'm eternally grateful to them for allowing me to marry their beloved Ariel, despite their negative views of my species."
"So am I." Ariel replied, leaning her head up and kissing her future husband.
They were soon interrupted by a throat being cleared, "Your majesties, perhaps that would be an activity better suited to a more private venue as opposed to the palace hallways."
"Aww Grim, you always ruin the best things." Eric groaned as Ariel giggled.
"I assure you, that is never my intention."
Ariel managed to compose herself and adress Eric's advisor, "What can we do for you this afternoon, Grimsby?"
"Ah yes, Prince Eric, you have a visitor in the main hall and you, my dear, have one as well."
"I have a visitor? I barely know anyone outside the castle." Ariel replied in surprise.
"He introduced himself as the Atlantican Embassador and also claimed to be an old friend of yours, I instructed him to tag along with me... the maids seemed prepared to attack him." With that Grimsby turned towards the doorway he had exited from, "Come along then, her majesty is waiting."
The princess sighed, "Grimsby, I really must insist you refer to me as Ariel unless in front of the court."
Eric chuckled and opened his mouth to comment but another voice spoke first, "Same old Ariel, shirking formality and trying to be everyone's friend. Of course, I'd expect no less from the princess who dared to befriend a poor orphaned merman who associated with criminals."
Ariel looked up to find a handsome blonde man standing in the doorway. He was dressed in an outfit similar to the one Eric was planning to wear at their wedding except instead of the royal blue, white, and gold of Eric's clothing, this man was wearing turquois and gold, the royal colors of Atlantica. His sandy blonde hair fell messily into pale blue, almost grey eyes and a cocky grin pulled up the corners of his mouth. It was the grin that lit the spark of familiarity in the princess, "Urchin? Is that you?"